Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, the core of Steely Dan, were famous (some might say infamous) for their perfectionism.
For instance, when recording their classic 1977 tune, Peg, the duo called up seven different ace session guitarists, each of whom tried, and failed, to nail their vision for the song’s solo (Jay Graydon’s lead break eventually got the nod). One of those seven was Larry Carlton.
The call made perfect sense. After all, it was Carlton who laid down the sizzling lead break on Kid Charlemagne the previous year, a solo that – for one – St. Vincent recently said was her pick for the greatest guitar solo of all time.
He sure had to work hard for it. Asked about the solo in a 1981 Guitar World interview, Carlton recalled that before he nailed it he did “maybe two hours’ worth of solos that [weren’t kept].”
Kid Charlemagne was just one of the seven tracks on the band’s 1976 album, The Royal Scam, that Carlton contributed to. And it wasn’t just that legendary solo that went through a like-pulling-teeth recording process.
Asked to compare the rigors of a Steely Dan session to the innumerable others he’d already been a part of to that point, Carlton told Guitar World in 1981, “[Becker and Fagen’s] demands are so high.
“It was grueling going through the Royal Scam album, because I was so heavily involved in the tracks and the charts. We cut tunes six or seven times with different drummers. I was pretty fed up and thinking, ‘Are those guys ever going to be happy with what I do?’”
Ask just about any musician – never mind one of Carlton’s caliber – about Steely Dan, though, and you’ll hear deep admiration of their peerless studio-craft.
“When I heard [The Royal Scam], I realized that I wasn’t the person that should be judging them at all,” he told GW. “I knew how hard they worked on it but I saw why. It was just outstanding.”
